America’s Cup Conspiracy Debunked?

The conspiracy theorists believed the AC72 rule changes presented by America’s Cup Regatta Director Iain Murray were made to accommodate non-class legal rudders being trialed by the Oracle Team USA defense team.

So Scuttlebutt asked the defender regarding their alleged illegal rudder design. Specifically, we asked if the rudder design was in use prior to the release of the safety recommendations, and if so, why was it since it was not class legal at that time.

Here was the reply by team manager Grant Simmer: “Oracle Team USA started building two sets of rudder wings on June 1 which were designed based on the Regatta Director’s safety recommendations issued on May 22. These are the rudder wings used on our boats now, and they are symmetric in accordance with the recommendations.”